TwitterTwitter is one of our favorite ways to connect with like-minded people online. It’s great for building a brand, and it allows you to chase down leads for new projects. For freelance writers in particular, Twitter is an awesome way to to monitor potential jobs. Editors often post when they’re looking for pitches, so follow those working for publications you want to write for. Other accounts, like Writers of Color, highlight freelance opportunities for specific communities.

Facebook GroupsThough we love our own Facebook group, we have found there are many professional development groups for women working on a project-by-project basis. There are a bunch of groups known as “binders” groups, which are open to women in media, graphic design and other related fields. You have to know someone in those groups to be added, so if you need help getting in, send Alicia a direct message!

TrelloShe Spends would be nowhere without Trello. We used it for a while to organize projects into categories: to-do, in process and finished. It also can be used for meal planning, keeping lists of books or movies you want to consume, or even for collaboration on projects.

AirtableAirtable is the beefed up version of Trello. It offers project management functionalities, but adds in the benefit of spreadsheets. We have since migrated She Spends’ project management from Trello to Airtable, and it’s allowed us to keep track of even more than we had been previously.

SquarespaceSquarespace allows you to create nice websites super quickly, which is helpful when you want to get your freelance or project management business off the ground. You don’t need to know any coding, and they have some pretty nice templates up for grabs. Alicia and Amanda have used Wordpress and Squarespace in the past, but found Squarespace is easier to manage.

Tomato TimerThe Tomato Timer uses the Pomodoro Technique to help you manage your time. The gist is this: You work for 25 minutes and then take a five- or 10-minute break. It helps to minimize distractions while still allowing for breaks, which is important in project management.

WaveWave is a free tool for managing a business’ finances. If your freelance or project-based business is set up as an LLC or something like it, you can use Wave to keep track of receipts, invoice customers, accept credit cards and bank payments online. It’s a well-designed tool and a lot of its functionalities are free, which is a She Spends bonus!